The older you get, the more you need to prioritize your cognitive health. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, it is estimated that 6.5 million Americans over the age of 65 are currently living with dementia, and while there is no guaranteed way to protect yourself against this devastating disease, certain lifestyle habits can help improve your brain health and reduce your risk.
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network (JAMA) Open found that eating a particular type of diet can help reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Read on to find out how your diet can help lower your chances of developing dementia.
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Dementia is a complex and multifaceted disease. While you can’t pinpoint a single root cause for this debilitating mental condition, you may be at risk due to various factors. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, these include advanced age, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, and atherosclerosis (thickening of blood vessel walls due to plaque buildup). Other factors can increase your risk of cognitive decline also. For example, exposure to environmental toxins, stress, loneliness, depression, lack of sleep, and a sedentary lifestyle can increase the risk of cognitive decline.
On 400 different types of dementia exist. The most common are Alzheimer’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, vascular dementia and frontotemporal dementia. Interestingly, some forms of dementia can occur simultaneously, in a condition known as mixed dementia. While there is no shortage of risk factors for this neurological disease, you can take steps to reduce your chance of developing dementia by adopting healthy lifestyle habits.
One of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of dementia is to start eating more whole, plant-based foods and limit processed foods in your diet. Adding more fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds to your diet can reduce the risk of cognitive declineaccording to a 2021 study published in Molecular Nutrition Food Research. Additionally, the researchers noted that foods such as blueberries, mushrooms, coffee, cocoa, and apples had protective effects on brain health.
The worst culprits for skipping your shopping list for better brain health are ultra-processed foods that are high in carbohydrates. saturated fats and added sugars. Foods such as processed meats, soft drinks, sweets, pastries, and sugary cereals can increase the chance of developing dementia. A 2017 study published in Alzheimer’s and dementia found that higher sugar intake from sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit juices was associated with smaller total brain volume and bad memory.
If you are looking for a healthy and natural way to improve your brain healthlook no further than the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet. As the name suggests, this way of eating is based on a combination of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, two brain-healthy diets in their own right. A study published in Journal of the American Medical Association Network (JAMA) Open in July 2022 found that “a high level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with better global cognition and a 7-year decline in learning and memory” among the cohort studied, which included middle-aged and older adults of ethnic origin. Hispanic or Latino.
So what do you eat on the MIND diet? Stacy Leerdn, a registered dietitian and nutritionist with lettuce growsays: “The MIND diet focuses on consuming vegetables, specifically green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, berries, poultry, fish, olive oil, and a moderate amount of wine. These foods provide excellent sources of antioxidants, which They help decrease inflammation in the body and reduce the risk of dementia.
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The MIND diet is designed to reduce the risk of dementia and help people maintain brain health as they age. In a recent analysis published in nutrientsthe researchers analyzed three US cohort studies. They found that adherence to the MIND diet reduced the risk of dementia in improve immune health and lower cholesterol—two pathways that can increase dementia risk if left unchecked.
“The MIND diet provides healthy guidelines that anyone can benefit from,” says Leung. “If you eat these concentrated foods regularly, your body and brain will receive nutritional and anti-aging benefits.”
